Monthly Archives: February 2012

Olheiser, of Competitive Cyclist kicks off the season nice and proper like.

Competitive Cyclist get season off to perfect start.

Competitive Cyclist’s first-year pro Mike Olheiser got his rookie season underway with an impressive solo win Tuesday at the first stage of the Rutas de Americas, a UCI 2.2 race in Uruguay.

Olheiser rode away from the fractured bunch in an effort to take a three-second KOM time bonus about 99 km into the 146 km opening stage from Montevideo to Minas. When no one in the field reacted to Olheiser’s move, the 37-year-old multiple masters time trial world champion pressed the issue and zeroed in on his first professional win.

“They gave him a good-sized gap, and I was like, ‘hmmm, they don’t know this guy can time trial like we do,'” said Competitive Cyclist director Gord Fraser. “It was really difficult terrain with a lot of up and down. He was able to get his momentum up on the downhills and really carry it over the rollers. So he just did a great job.”

The Rutas de Americas marks the team’s first foray into international racing after team leader Francisco Mancebo won the USA Cycling National Race Calendar individual title last year. Fraser said Olheiser’s first professional win in as many tries has already set the tone for a major team goal this season.

“I’ve been big on this word diversification of results, and we’ve certainly got it the very first race,” Fraser said. “So I couldn’t be happier for the guys. It’s good for the morale. We’re having a great time here already. It’s quite an adventure, and it’s certainly different than what we’re used to, so we’re rolling with it and having a good time. This will just set us up for the rest of the week without any pressure now.”

Mancebo started the fireworks Tuesday for Competitive Cyclist, soloing away from the bunch to win the first intermediate sprint at 28 km and grabbing the time bonus. The team continued to force the issue for the next 30 km, working with Porongos de Flores of Uruguay to keep the pace high over the rolling terrain.

Olheiser made his move after the peloton split into two groups. While teammates Mancebo and Chad Beyer rode heard on the ever-shrinking chase group behind, Olheiser battled to an eight-second gap at the finish. With time bonuses, Olheiser climbs into the overall race lead with a 14-second margin over Pablo Pintos of Uruguay. Fraser said Beyer was in position to take second on the stage when a Brasilian rider altered his line, causing Beyer to unclip to regain his balance and losing his spot.

The race continues Wednesday with the 150 km stage from ah9eme P. Varela to Melo. Fraser said his team will not be aggressively patrolling the front of the peloton to defend Olheiser’s lead, but will look for others to animate the race in the coming days.

“I still think it’s kind of a crap shoot, honestly,” Fraser said “There are so many factors that can go into it. We’re just really happy with the win. We’re not going to ride the front by any stretch. We’re going to play a more passive defense and try to engage the competition as much as possible and count on some local rivalries to see what shakes free.”

The six-day stage race ends February 26 with a stage from Trinidad to Montevideo. After the Rutas, Competitive Cyclist will split into two squads, with half the team contesting the Tour of Mexico while the other half heads to the San Dimas Stage Race and then Redlands Bicycle Classic for the USA Cycling National Race Calendar opener.

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Lezyne’s Pressure Drive mini pump is a CNC aluminum mini pump that claims to go to 120psi. The overlapping barrel and handle with a detachable threaded hose makes for a compact package that easily slides into even the smallest hydration pack. It even does well inside a jersey pocket alongside a tube to keep it from bouncing around or sliding out too easily.

Lezyne claims the oversized barrel reduces the number of strokes required to fill a tire. I didn’t keep count, but getting a tubeless mountain bike tire or cyclocross tire up to riding pressure wasn’t terribly laborious. Filling a road tire wasn’t as much fun, which is sort of a shame because it does fit so well in a jersey and it’s really lightweight. That said, it’s far better than some other compact pumps I’ve used.

Fill up with the details after the break…

The ABS flexible hose threads onto the valve stem and has Presta on one end and Schrader on the other. Because it’s not a fixed part of the pump, you can really put some elbow grease into the pumping without fear of breaking the valve and ruining your ride (or at minimum your tube).

The threaded attachment has a pressure release valve to let air out of the pump hose before removing it to ease the release and keep it from popping off. The downside to threaded attachments is that they tend to pull removable valve cores with them, letting all your hard earned air right back out.

This problem isn’t exclusive to Lezyne. Some of their pumps include adapters to simple press onto the stem, so you could order one of those with your pump. Or you could get a threaded Presta-to-Schrader adapter and use that, but it takes away a little of the magic. And press-on tips aren’t going to stay on as well during vigorous pumping. A better solution is to get tubes or tubeless valves without removable cores, which is what I’m slowly replacing all of mine with.

When you’re done, you simply unthread it, slide it into the other end and thread it in flush:

Even with my large hands, it was comfortable to pump and didn’t heat up too much. Action is smooth and tight, it feels well constructed, and no air leaked out around the valve. It’s become my default pack pump.

The Lezyne Pressure Drive comes in gold (tested), black, red and blue and retails for $44.99.

There’s also a combined tyre lever and 10mm open-ended spanner, plus a disc brake pad separator/bottle opener combo. The large chain tool has Mavic, 3.22 and 3.45 metric spoke head slots. Unusually for a bike tool, the CRV 20 also has a serrated 2¼in blade.

The tool has a long body, which makes it a great choice for bigger leverage jobs like removing a sticky pedal or retightening a loose crank arm. Because the chain tool is fixed it can be a little awkward to use; it’s fine in an emergency situation but we wouldn’t recommend it for workshop use.

The 3mm Allen is fixed, which meant we had to find a spare one when the CRV20’s bolts started to loosen. The multi tool comes with a Neoprene wrap to hold everything in place when pocketed and give you protection from any spiky bits.

Build quality is excellent, with thick, forged aluminium side plates. The individual tools are hardened and we haven’t managed to chew any of the ends up yet. They’re also corrosion resistant, providing you give them a squirt of WD40 or the like now and again.

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In conjunction with the release of our most ambitious product category to date—GPS cycling computers—we tasked renowned production company Cut Media to produce a vivid and beautiful film to highlight the occasion.

On July 6, 2015, tune in to our YouTube channel for the worldwide release of “Lezyne GPS – The Next Generation of Cycling GPS Computers”. The film features stunning footage from around the globe while highlighting our diverse collection of teams and athletes. Equipped with our new Mini GPS, Power GPS and Super GPS computers, international stars like Danny MacAskill (Scotland) and world-class cyclists like Leah Kirchmann (Canada) combine for a thrilling cinematic display of epic riding.

Also featured in the film are Kelly McGarry (New Zealand), Optum Pro Cycling p/b KBS, Eric Porter (USA), Team Clif Bar’s Menso de Jong (USA) and Sally Wang (Taiwan).

Click for Larger View

“GPS was a huge multi-year project for us and to finally see the finished product represented in such a beautiful production brings an amazing sense of accomplishment to all of us at Lezyne,” said Micki Kozuschek, Lezyne’s founder and president.

Mountain bike legend Eric Porter and the fearless Kelly McGarry are two of our newest ambassadors and both are represented in the film. “It was so much fun shooting this video, we rode amazing trails and also found some time to enjoy the local night life,” Porter exclaimed. “I’ve been a fan of Lezyne for years, and the new GPS line continues their tradition of well designed, beautiful products that make every ride better.

It’s been cool gettin’ some stats on my rides using the Lezyne Mini GPS,” said McGarry. “It’s low key, easy to use and good fun trying to smash my times on the next ride!”

The wait is over: our Mini GPS is in transit to a shop near you! Check out the list below showing the retailers in the USA and UK that will have the Mini GPS in stock. And more are on the way to the rest of the world! Over the next two weeks Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand and many more will be receiving their shipments. Stay tuned for updated list of shops. If you hurry you’ll be one of the firsts to get your hands on this year’s hottest new product!

The latest Col Collective video is now online, featuring the Passo Giau in Italy!

I guess it was only a matter of time before we’d awaken to a tearful sky, up until this point we’d definitely had lady luck on our side. Conditions can change in a heartbeat so I was hoping that the clouds would roll on by just as quickly as they’d descended on the Passo Giau. The Dolomites on a blue sky day are one of my favourite places to chase an endless horizon and escape the day, and are a place like no other on the planet. Sinuous roads, jagged peaks and steep gradients leave you breathless for all the right reasons but, hey, the show must go on right? It’s not over until we’re singing at the summit…..at least that’s what the voice in my head keeps telling me.